United Nations – UN-Secretariat

Junior Professional Officer Program (JPO) Chiffre Nr. 2025-1-03

TERMS OF REFERENCE

I. General Information

Title: JPO in Programme Management

Sector of Assignment: Programme Management

Organization/Office: United Nations /Executive Office of the Secretary-General (EOSG) / Management and Administration Unit

Country and Duty Station: New York, USA

Duration of assignment: 2 years with possibility of extension for another year. The extension of appointment is subject to yearly review concerning priorities, availability of funds, and satisfactory performance

Please note that for participants of the JPO-Programme two years work experience are mandatory! Relevant work experience can be counted. In order to assess the eligibility of the candidates, we review the relevant experience acquired after obtaining the first university degree (usually bachelor’s degree).

II. Supervision

Title of Supervisor:

Chief of the Management and Administration Unit and Executive Officer, Executive Office of the Secretary-General.

Content and methodology of supervision:

Establishment of a Work Plan: During the first month of the assignment, the Junior Professional Officer (JPO) will work jointly with his/her direct supervisor to finalize an agreed upon work plan. The final work plan will be discussed and mutually agreed to by the JPO and his/her supervisor.

Evaluation: The United Nations Performance Evaluation System (e-performance) will serve as a primary platform to evaluate of the JPO’s performance.

The supervisor will:

• Provide guidelines, directives, advice and instructions on assignments to be carried out by the Associate Expert;
• Develop the annual work plan for the Associate Officer and assign him/her to project teams;
• Monitor the work of the Associate Officer through discussion and dialogue, review of working plan, provision of feedback and review of reports;
• Assesses the performance of the Associate Officer through the elaboration of the performance report.

III. Duties, Responsibilities and Output Expectations

This position is located in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General. The position will support a variety of management and administrative functions such as activities relating to the accountability system, implementing, monitoring and evaluation of business functions; as well as provide assistance to the Secretariat of the Management Committee, and other assigned functions. The JPO reports to the Executive Officer.

Within delegated authority, the Junior Professional Officer will be responsible for the following duties:

Management Committee Secretariat Support

• Assist with all aspects of the work programme of the United Nations Management Committee Secretariat.
• Monitor Management Committee reform and business continuity efforts, including increased transparency and accountability in committee decisions.
• Assist in the coordination and creation of the Management Committee forward agenda, agenda, background documents, and talking points.
• Liaise with Management Committee member and observer offices.
• Upload and sending out all relevant Management Committee documentation to Committee members.

 

Management and Administration

• Provide support to the activities related to the management reform portfolio, e.g. track implementation of the workstreams under the Operational Integrational Taskforce and prepare documentation for quarterly meetings, prepare talking points and background material on management reform for EOSG principals.
• Assist in a wide range of activities in support of the accountability system of the Secretariat.
• Assist in the coordination of the Statement of Internal Control and engage in relevant follow up actions.
• Assist in developing and updating Enterprise Risk Management plans and risk-mitigation plans.
• Assist in developing and reviewing the evaluation plan and assist in managing evaluations.
• Assist in developing and updating EOSG internal actions plans in various areas such as gender, data strategy, sexual exploitation and abuse, etc.
• Assist in tracking KPIs on delegation of authority.
• Assist with preparing updates or Notes on Fifth-Committee related matters and reviewing related reports of the Secretary-General.
• Prepares various written outputs, e.g. draft background papers, analysis, sections of reports and correspondence.
• Keeps up to date on documents/reports/guidelines that have a bearing on matters related to accountability matters, ensuring compliance with intergovernmental recommendations and decisions as well as the United Nations Policies and procedures.
• Assist in follow up on internal and external audit recommendations.
• Carrying out other official administrative duties as assigned by the head of entity, or by other entities as applicable.
• Other ad hoc assignment as applicable.

IV. Qualifications and Experience

Education:

Master’s degree in a relevant discipline such as MBA, MPA or international relations.

Work experience:

A minimum of 2 years of relevant work experience in office practices in programme management and/or administration is required.

Languages:

English and French are the working languages of the UN Secretariat. For this position, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of a second official UN language is desirable.

Other skills:

Proficiency in Microsoft Office suites (particularly MS PowerPoint and MS Excel) is required. Working knowledge of other IT applications is an asset.

UN competencies:

PROFESSIONALISM: Shows pride in work and in achievements; Demonstrates professional competence and mastery of subject matter; Is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results; Is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns; Shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges; Remains calm in stressful situations.

COMMUNICATION: Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; Listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; Asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; Tailors language, tone, style and format to match the audience; Demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

TEAMWORK: Works collaboratively with colleagues to achieve organizational goals; Solicits input by genuinely valuing others’ ideas and expertise; is willing to learn from others; Places team agenda before personal agenda; Supports and acts in accordance with final group decision, even when such decisions may not entirely reflect own position; Shares credit for team accomplishments and accepts joint responsibility for team shortcomings.

PLANNING & ORGANIZING: Develops clear goals that are consistent with agreed strategies; Identifies priority activities and assignments; adjusts priorities as required; Allocates appropriate amount of time and resources for completing work; Foresees risks and allows for contingencies when planning; Monitors and adjusts plans and actions as necessary; Uses time efficiently.

CLIENT ORIENTATION: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view; Establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect; Identifies clients’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions; Monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients’ environment to keep informed and anticipate problems; Keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects; Meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client.

Workforce Diversity

The United Nations believes that an inclusive culture attracts the best talent and encourages all qualified applicants, regardless of gender, disability, sexual orientation, cultural or religious backgrounds, to apply.

V. Learning Elements

On completion of the assignment, the JPO will have/be able to…

• Write assessment reports.
• Gain a good understanding of the management of the United Nations.
• Establish relationships with different stakeholders.
• Monitors progress and assess different management initiatives.

VI. Background Information

EOSG, under the guidance of the Secretary-General (SG), work as a team pursuing in a cohesive and coherent manner, the SG’s vision, priorities and policies for his second mandate in office. It seeks alignment of the United Nations family with the SG’s vision, priorities and policies. It is guided by the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity and of achieving gender and regional balance among staff.

All EOSG units will support the EOSG senior officials, as appropriate, depending on the tasks at hand, regardless of which senior official they formally report to, and will work together through a matrix team approach, as necessary, to ensure EOSG leads by example on integration and cross-pillar work.

Bitte senden Sie Ihre JPO-Bewerbung direkt an das Büro Führungskräfte zu Internationalen Organisationen (BFIO) unter Angabe der Chiffre Nr. 2025-1-03 auf dem Bewerbungsbogen

Alle Informationen finden Sie unter www.bfio.de